67 Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes across Gaza

At least 67 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that the bodies of 32 Palestinians were taken to the Gaza European Hospital after the Israeli army bombed a number of houses east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The sources said the city's Nasser Medical Complex received eight other bodies, which were also retrieved from the eastern area. The recovery of bodies and the search for the missing under the rubble are still ongoing, they added.

Local sources and eyewitnesses said the Israeli army had withdrawn from east Khan Younis after suddenly penetrating the area on Tuesday night under cover of heavy fire.

In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, 10 people were killed in the Israeli bombing of a school and tents housing displaced people, according to Palestinian security sources.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that the Air Force conducted a precise strike on Hamas militants who were operating inside a command and control center in central Gaza.

It added the militants used the center, which is embedded inside a compound that previously served as the "Al-Bureij Preparatory School," to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and Israel.

In addition, eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an inhabited residential house in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza said in a press statement that Israeli aircraft bombed the Muscat school, which was sheltering displaced people in the al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, killing three Palestinians and wounding 17 others.

The statement added that six Palestinians were killed and some others wounded in another raid on the Al-Amal Institute for Orphans, which hosts displaced people west of Gaza City.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, the IDF said the Air Force had conducted precise strikes on militants who were operating inside Hamas command and control centers embedded inside compounds that previously served as the Muscat and Rimal schools. It accused the militants of using the centers to plan and implement attacks against the troops and Israel.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the strip has risen to 41,689, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.